Social Outcast
by dustori
Summary: When Rachel noticed she hadn't been splashed with different frozen flavored drinks for the past week that was when she started noticing him. Full summary inside. Rachel/Puck with minor Puck/Quinn and Rachel/Finn and probably others
1. Outside Looking In

AN: Hi everyone, I would just like to say this is my first Glee fanfic and that I hope you'll like it. It's kind of AU with a little of a fast forward twist to it. I can't really explain it except to say you'd have to read it to know what I mean.

Full Summary: He was her tormentor, her bully all through freshmen year because she was at the lowest of the totem pole. Now, it was her sophmore year and she found him at the bottom along with her.

Well that's it, enjoy.

* * *

When Rachel noticed she hadn't been splashed with any different flavored drink for the past week that was when she started noticing him.

Ironically, she laughed in disbelief at the thought of something so trivial like being splash with slushies could have the audacity to distract her, just for a little bit, from her main train of thoughts. Thoughts that was full of stardom and ways of achieving just that. It was strange, weird even, but enough to peg her curiosity.

Was she deemed not worthy anymore? She didn't understand why she was in the first place. Jealousy maybe?

She was more driven then most of the students here at Williams McKinley high school, maybe a little more knowledge-able too, and wasn't afraid to show it. Not to mention more talented than others.

That would put some people off; certainly make someone jealous of her.

But she knew what the answer was and that being that she was a member of Glee. Not everyone, mostly all, consider Glee to be the most enthusiastic club to join. It was there to be ridiculed by the more appealing activities such as football and cheerleading. Thus, bring her back to her problem at hand.

Why was Noah "Puck" Puckerman not splashing her with slushies?

If she had to think about it, the thing that bothered her most about this whole "not being splashed" fiasco was that it ruined her perfectly made out schedule. In a strange way, she sort of fitted Noah's splashing time right between lunchtime and third period. This ridiculous act has been going on for about a year now and suddenly the start of her sophomore year it stopped. Like she said before, her curiosity was hooked.

She spotted him walking down the crowded hallway one day through her mirror taped to the inside of her locker. The reflective device always aided her in seeing what was going on behind her. People don't just talk when her back was turned, they made faces and rude gestures that they thought she didn't know about but she did. She just chose to ignore it. But in this matter, where her main tormentor walked the hall without a second glance her way, she chose to acknowledge it.

"Rachel, are y-you ready," stuttered Tina right behind her blocking her view through the mirror.

Closing her locker door, she turned to the Glee member who always wore black and smiled.

"Yes I am."

Walking side by side, they walked down the hall along with other students heading in the same direction and destination as they. Looking up and through the clusters of people around her, she just barely caught a head with a mohawk hair cut turning the corner. He was also heading in the same direction they were and that being the school's cafeteria.

………..

Something was off about him. Rachel would have never noticed since she could be a little self-absorbed sometimes but something was definitely off. His posture, his whole deposition seemed not like the Puck she once knew. Well the part of him she did remember. A wicked smile right before he would splash her with a slushy, a flirtatious look upon his face when he was eyeing an equal flirtatious female when his girlfriend wasn't looking, a confident demeanor when scouring the halls with his friends and saying rude jokes about her among his friends. Looking at him now, he looked defeated. And by observing the table he now occupied, he looked alone as well.

"D-did you hear the news," Tina started, interrupting her thoughts.

"Tina, gossip isn't news, just misinformed information to start rumors about someone's personal life. You should try to ignore them."

They were sitting at their respectable table close to a window with the view of the back of the school, observing the courtyard where round tables stood for outside eating. Small vendors were setup outside as well and Rachel caught herself looking from the slush machine to Puck going back and forth between the two.

"….quit the team."

Her attention went to Tina after catching on to the last of her sentence.

"Excuse me," she questioned.

"Puck quit the t-team."

_Why_? She voiced in her head but didn't want to say it out loud or else she would be a hypocrite to her own statement about gossip, but that didn't stop her from listening to Tina go on with the news of Puck quitting the football team.

"K-Kurt heard some of the football players t-talking about Puck quitting the team after they d-dumped him in the dumpster. Saying something about they should dump Puck in the dumpster for what he d-did."

"He probably just misinterpreted them."

Tina shook her head. Her long black hair with strips of blue highlights hitting her face.

"No it t-true. Mercedes overheard Santana and some of the cheerleaders t-talking about him. They confirmed it. He had quit."

_Why?_

Looking over at his table again, she noticed he was gone. She turned towards the doors to the cafeteria just in time to see Puck walking out.

..........

Another week has gone by and Puck was on her mind yet again. And it all started with her wondering why the former football player stopped his reign of terror with the slushies a week ago. More rumors were developing and Rachel was starting to wonder what to make of them. Apparently, the quitting of the football team was true. She hadn't seen him in his lettermen jacket or on the field practicing since she noticed his stoppage of slushing.

It was visible proof.

Others rumors were just hearsay. He was leaking game plays to rival teams. He was seeing someone from another team beside Santana. He was quitting because he thought he was better than the rest. The list goes on and on. It was overwhelming. To her, she tried not to get caught up in the drama going on in school unless it was dealing with the school's play but it was the topic of everyday news, especially in Glee.

"There was talk of him secretly dating Quinn Fabray behind Finn Hudson's back," Kurt stated.

He looked from one person's face to the other, gauging their reaction to the news. The three people around him shook their heads in disbelief.

"This is a hot damn mess," was Mercedes response.

Rachel just shook her head too but not out of disbelief but out of detest. The things people would believe was appalling, even if what they believed were just rumors. But she would have to admit it was contagious. Even she was starting to wonder why Puck quit the team. A good source of knowing why would be Puck himself or maybe his friends but it wasn't like she was friends with them. They were or most of them were her bullies. Deciding against getting information from Jacob Israel was out of the question if she wanted to be drooled over or written about in another of his inconvenient blogging. But she had to do something. She was getting distracted.

"Rachel, are you with us?"

Rachel snapped to attention from the worried tone coming from Mr. Schue's voice. He was standing in front of her, a little hunched over to get eye leveled, while frowning at her. The other Glee members were looking in her general direction too and she figured she must have zoned out for a while, if their looks of curiosity and concern didn't clue her in.

"Yes," she quickly answered.

"Good because we can't afford to get distracted right now."

_You're telling me_ she thought to herself.

"We have to get you guys ready for Invitational in the next two weeks and...."

"Sorry Mr. Schue, I don't mean to interrupt but I thought we talked about this. If we remotely have a chance of winning, we have to have a male lead that can keep up with me, especially for sectional. Artie may have the voice but physically...I'm sorry it just won't work. No offense Artie."

"None taken," Artie replied.

"I'm well aware of that Rachel but we obviously don't have a lot of people signing up. We just have to make do with what we have now until I can find someone. Now to where I left off, I think I might have the perfect song for you guys. It maybe..."

She couldn't afford anymore distraction if she wanted Glee to work out. Without the right male lead, making it big and getting out of this town would surely become a pipe dream and she wouldn't allow that to happen. So if she had to face her tormentor to get this puzzling question about Puck out of her system and for everyone else's, then so be it.

........

She didn't know why she didn't notice it before. The disgusting looks, the whispering behind his back, the writing of cheater and betrayer on notes taped to his locker or truck, the alienation. He was being bullied and by his own comrades at that.

Behind ever rumors lies some truth. And now that she thought about it, about all the rumors, the connection between them all have some reference of the team hating him. But at this moment, after leaving Glee to look for some answers, she found this. She found Puck balling up a folded note that was once on his locker and seeing some of athletes laughing among themselves behind him. It became clear what was happening. He was at the bottom of the totem pole now. He was one of them, a member of the lowest social rank.

It was hard to believe if she didn't have the evidence right in front of her face.

She watched him threw the balled up paper to the floor and opened his locker to grab a binder and closed the door. Ignoring the sneaking laughter behind him, he walked out through the doors of the school to the parking lot.

This was really getting to her. Things were happening that shouldn't be and she couldn't quite place why except to place the blame on Puck. When he stopped slushing her, everything else soon followed. Like a ripple in a pool. And now she was doing thing she wouldn't normally do. She followed him.

Trying to be discreet, she followed him out in the parking lot where his truck was parked. She went to hers to keep from being too noticeable in her spying and watched him carefully. Fishing for his keys in his jean pocket, his binder in his hand slipped and fell open on the ground causing him to curse. With his keys finally out of his pocket, he quickly grabbed at the fallen binder and hurriedly made his way to his truck. In his haste he missed the small piece of paper falling out of his binder, but Rachel didn't and she kept her eyes on it until she heard the muffle sound of his truck pulling away.

Finally looking up from the fallen item on the ground, she scanned her surrounding before she made her move. There were only a few cars left in the parking lot. Those of teachers and students still left in the school for after school activities. There was no one in sight from her vantage point so she took the opportunity to move ahead and seize the paper before it could be picked up by another or the wind.

It was small, rectangular in shape and felt smoothed on one side. A picture came to mind, Polaroid perhaps. She felt hesitant at first. This was almost like invading someone else's privacy. But it wasn't if the picture was left in the public for everyone to see with their viewing eyes, even if it was dropped mistakenly. In a way, she sort of felt that this picture would answer some of her questions. Would satisfy her curiosity just for the time being to know what happened to the Puckerman she once knew.

Now with some motivation, she turned the picture over to see the secret it held and gasped. For what was shown in the picture before her was of a baby, a couple months old, lying asleep in a pink and white crib. She was wrapped snuggly and safely in a white blanket with her head tilted to the side, turned towards a brown teddy bear. It was cute if she didn't happen to read the permanent white writing written on the picture. In big letters, it was written:

NOAH'S LITTLE GIRL

tbc....

* * *

AN: So what do you think? Please let me know in a review. I need to know if I should continue it or not.


	2. Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

AN: I would like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed and put me under favorite author/story. Oh, and story alert. You couldn't imagine the joy I felt when I read the comments you guys made. They were great by the way. I guess I'm continuing. I know my writing need working on and I'm trying to make it happen but I don't think I could make any promises right now. If anyone want to beta it then by all means email me. It'll help me out a lot.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Glee (I forgot to mention this in the first chapter)

With that said, here is the next chapter to my story. I hope you like it. Enjoy

* * *

For a while, lying in bed that night, Rachel's mind couldn't get over what she just found out earlier that day. The secret Noah Puckerman was keeping from the whole school that everyone seemed to fill with what they didn't know with rumors and assumptions was finally brought to the surface. The fact that she, the one person he'd tormented with frozen drinks, knew about it was unexpected, ironic really. Who knew she would be the person to find out his secret.

And who's to say it was a secret?

Surely someone had to know he had a baby at home, if he _had_ a baby at home. The picture simply showed a baby in a crib with the writing of "Noah's little girl" on it. Who to say the baby's his? If she was his he would have been in the picture kissing her goodnight if she was, right? She could have been just a favorite niece or a cousin of his he adores so much. That would seem probable enough, right?

Then why change?

Why quit the football team if she was just a niece or a cousin? Why carry the picture around if she wasn't his? Why surrender yourself to the lowest social rank in school if what he was hiding would require him to give up all who he was known for if she wasn't indeed in his life to take care of?

Why?

Rachel was at a standstill with unanswered questions. Stuck to know what that picture, paper clipped inside her day planner on her dresser, meant to Noah and why the change of status at school. Given the givens, she would have to confront him like she was going to do after Glee club before it dawned on her that he wasn't part of the school's high rankers of the totem pole anymore and ask him herself.

But timing was everything though.

The picture wasn't just in her day planner for nothing. It was placed in the section of tomorrow's date marked under the time three-fifteen for a reason. She couldn't help it if she was an organized person. Force of habit she guessed, but it was helpful. It gave her fifteen minutes before Glee club to talk to him about this situation and fifteen minutes seemed more than enough time to talk to him about it.

Finally, with that in mind, she turned to her side and closed her eyes to sleep and dreamed of Broadway's lights and red carpet events.

…….

Again, she couldn't help it if she was an organized person.

Every day she would get up at six in the morning, drank a protein shake and do a little cardio. Would have showered and dressed in clothes she picked out for herself the day before and ready for school by seven o'clock on the dot. At seven ten she would have arrived at school with time to spare to go over some sheet music before the first bell rung for first period to start. She would go to her scheduled classes listed for the day, taking notes and asking questions when it was appropriate and having lunch in-between third period, and by time fourth period was over with school was done at the exact time of three-fifteen. After school it was Glee club and dance rehearsal until five thirty. Homework and dinner with her dads by seven and filming, uploading, and posting on her MySpace by nine. Before getting ready for bed she would have her clothes ironed and ready for the next day, backpack packed, and clock set for six am to start her day again by ten thirty.

A habit… but today was going to be a little different.

Rachel knew it would when that picture dropped out of Noah's binder yesterday and into her hands. She knew it when her dream consisted of her performing "Mamma Mia" in a New York theatre in front of rows of people with baby's heads. The performance was superb by the way but it didn't deter her away from what the dream was insinuating. She couldn't go on with her life without knowing the answer to this little distraction turned massive now that she was dreaming about it. Bothersome as it may be, she was going to get some answers today so that would weakened her anxiety over the dream, and with relief, helped her to go on with her day and get ready for school.

…….

He was scavenging, searching for what was lost to him.

Rachel watched from afar where she couldn't be seen; looking at the young man tearing through his locker and backpack trying to find what she knew was for the picture of the baby. The picture of Noah's little girl.

He must have noticed the picture was gone the moment he got home because once he pulled into the parking lot, once his feet touched school's ground, his search began. It was important to him this she knew. He was determined to find it. His eyes showed it, his hasty movement enforced it, his body tensed for it. It was an easy observation. An observation she was willing to see a little further before she took action.

He had already searched the area where he dropped his binder from yesterday. Rachel knew this because he pulled up fast in the parking lot a minute behind her searching for the picture. On the ground, in his truck, everywhere where he thought the item keeping his secret would be. Watching him now in the hallway told her how desperate he was.

A part of her, the part from last year, wanted her to embellish this moment to get some form of gratification from it. To see him suffer for awhile as he now was a member of the lowest social rank. The other part, the one living in the now in a new school year, wanted to sympathize for him. To walk up to him at this very moment where his attention was focused and where there was no slushy cup in his hands and hand him over the picture.

All her willpower was leaning her more to the latter but the first bell rung, signaling for first period to start and she had to dismiss the latter's actions and moved with the crowd to get to class. Besides, she couldn't have made it in time to go get the picture from her locker where she was storing it temporarily and give it to him. Giving him the picture now would have messed up the schedule she made for today and in black ball point pen, she was going to talk to him about the picture at three-fifteen. So she walked away to stick with her schedule. She couldn't let Noah mess her up again. The no slushing already did that.

……..

"Where is it?"

"Where is what?"

Rachel listened in on the conversation happening behind her. Noah and herself had biology for third period together and today Mr. Sullivan had the class partnered up for a lab project. She was partnered up with a classmate, so was he and so was Santana, who Noah was whispering to from across the lab table they was working at. He was getting frustrated with the whole thing, Rachel could tell and his voice was getting higher as Santana was disappointing him with what he wanted to know.

"Brittany told me you were at my locker yesterday." He started.

"Well Brittany needs to keep her mouth shut."

"There was something inside that belonged to me, now it's gone."

"And you think I took it," Santana frowned, "Why would I want anything from your locker anyway? We broke up remember? Besides, I returned everything you gave me."

"I want it back."

Someone from a table behind them shushed them and the two quiet down briefly. Rachel's partner tapped her on the arm to get her attention and she jumped from the contact.

"Hey, you're alright," her partner asked.

"Yes! Yeah, I-I was just thinking to myself about the problem."

"Well, we're partners here and this lab project accounts for ten points of team participation. So pay attention."

"Right"

Rachel grabbed one of the empty tubes in the middle of the lab table she was working at and started pouring some solution inside. She didn't need her lab partner to tell her she wasn't focusing. It was usually the other way around but yet again, the source to her inattentiveness was Noah. Her curiosity was certainly killing her concentration. This she knew but she couldn't stop now. The conversation was just getting started and already some questions were being answered.

"Want what back?" Santana started again catching Rachel's attention again.

"My picture"

"What picture? I didn't steal a picture from your locker."

"Well it's gone and you're the only one who knows my locker combination."

"That's a lie and you know it. Finn and Quinn knows your combination and now that you're off the football and baseball team, probably half of them knows it by now too," she paused to do a little taunting, basking in his frustration and embarrassment. "Like the little presents we've been leaving in and on your locker?"

"I've noticed," he stated, not denying anything.

"Okay then. Well instead of jumping down my throat about some missing picture you _think_ I stole, why don't you ask the other twenty something if they took your picture?"

"Maybe I will," Noah retorted back.

"Fine"

"Fine"

"Miss Santana and Mister Noah is there something you would like to discuss in front of the class?" Mr. Sullivan bellowed from the other side of the room, catching everyone's attention.

"No," the two said in unison.

"Okay then. Then I suggested you two get to work with your own respectful partners and be quiet."

"Yes sir"

Santana wasn't the baby mama that's for sure. With her not knowing about the picture meant she didn't know about the baby which meant crossing her off the list of the possible suspects of being baby mama to Noah's little girl. It was a shame too because Rachel had Santana at the top of the list of being the mother since she was Noah's girlfriend during their freshmen year. She guessed Noah had someone on the side while dating Santana. He would often look at other girls when she wasn't looking. Which meant Rachel's list of possible mothers should probably extend more than just the girls on the Cheerios. That would be time consuming, but maybe not when three-fifteen rounds around.

"Rachel!"

Snapping to attention from the hysterical voice coming from her partner, Rachel caught on to what had her partner in a panic. One of the tubes she was gradually filling was overflowing and spilling over the table, wetting up the paper with the instructions on it. Her hand with the solution drew back quickly to lower the container down on the table and grabbed a towel to help clean up the mess.

"Joshua, I'm so sorry."

"Rachel…look what…God."

Upset now, Joshua was leaving the room to go to the restroom. Unfortunately, some of the solution fell onto his pants. Rachel was left to clean up the rest of the mess while everyone, after seeing the disaster of red liquid spill all over the table and on Joshua's pants, went back to work until the end of third period.

…….

Three-twenty and no sign of Noah by his locker and she's been watching from the corner of the hallway for five minutes. Shortly after leaving fourth period, Rachel hurried to grab her day planner with the picture in it and down the hall to where Noah's locker was located at, all the while her mind went over some of the questions she wanted to know from him first. First being, who the baby in the picture was? A great start to this puzzling mystery. The picture of the baby seemed to her to be the catalyst to this whole ordeal, possibly the start of his change and her curious distraction. The next question being who was the mother and why? Why being the highlighted question of all the ones she wanted to know the most. It seemed to her that it could answer some underlining questions she couldn't get from the other two.

Why did he decide to have and keep a baby?

If memories serve her, Noah, last year, wasn't the type of guy to have or wanted to have a baby with. He was arrogant and corky and a womanizer back then. Rachel even heard about his "pool cleaning" business and even then he didn't seem like the guy to have a baby with. She understood a baby changes you but was it possible for one to change Noah "Puck" Puckerman. That was where the big WHY came into play. She had to know why he did it.

When the clock on her watch and the school's clock synchronized three twenty-one, she left her perch leaning against some of the lockers in the hallway and walked outside in the parking lot where only a few cars filled the lot. His truck was still here at the school which meant he was still here, but where? Where would Noah go if he didn't have football or baseball to keep him busy after school?

Going by a memory and a possible hunch, Rachel started heading in the direction of the football field.

It was sometimes last year when Rachel found herself sitting on the school's bleachers observing the students in P.E. to come out and get away from all the drama going on in school…to also get away from her weekly slushing and from the what-else-could-go-wrong-in-Glee and some as well. It helped. But there were other times where she would go somewhere else when she found her spot would be occupied by someone else and that person being Noah Puckerman.

He didn't notice her whenever she would catch him staring off in the distance when she found him at her personal spot. Seeing her tormenter there in his own private thoughts…back then, she would have just walked away to find somewhere else to wallow in her thoughts. But now…where the source to this mess she was in was sitting, leaning his back against another row of bleachers behind him, in the spot she remembered, she wasn't going to walk away.

"Noah," she started.

"Go away," he bellowed, not turning his head to look her way. His eyes stayed forward, observing the practice going on down on the field.

Not the one to give up, Rachel tried again.

"Noah I need to talk to you."

"And I said go away. Why can't you get that?" He shook his head. "And why are you calling me…"

He finally turned his head to see who he was talking to and was surprise to see that person being Rachel. Surprising to Rachel, he formed a lop-sided grin on his face before once again turning to the field below.

"Rachel Berry I should have known. Who else would call me by my real name beside the teachers?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Why?"

"It's important, it's about…about your behavior lately."

"My behavior," he frowned, leaning up and turning towards her again.

"Yes, and I feel that it's valuable for you to know that your behavior lately has been causing sort of a nuisance for me these couple of weeks. I feel we should address this problem along with the picture I found yesterday and get this over with so I could get on with my life. I don't know why I even…"

She knew she was starting to ramble. She rambled when she was nervous and looking at Noah's face after what she was saying dawned on him, she had every right to be. He stood up, face in a contempt manner as he started toward her.

"…found this matter worrisome, but you…and I…need to…talk."

She was stopped in her rambling when she found Noah standing only inches away from her, staring down at her. His height overshadowed hers causing her to have to lean back some and look up at his brownish green eyes. Trying not to let his posture affect her, she stood her ground and raised her chin to show her strength hadn't wavered.

"You had my picture since yesterday and you've waited until now to tell me?"

"Yes."

"Give it to me," he demanded.

Rachel opened her day planner to the appropriate page and slipped the picture from under the paper clipped and handed it to him. Snatching the picture from her hand she drew back to gauge his reaction. He slightly turned away from her, as if to form privacy for him and the picture. He was relieved. His face softened when his right thumb traced the head of the baby in the picture and a sincere smile formed on his face.

"Who is she," Rachel asked, hating to ruin the moment he was in.

Realizing he wasn't alone, he tucked the picture in his front right pocket and pushed pass her.

"None of your business Berry."

"You can't simply expect me to forget what I just saw back there and not ask why," she said following him. "Is she your? Who is the mother? Why are your friends bullying you now? Why can't you answer me, Noah?"

"Puck!" He bellowed, stopping in his track to turn and face her. "It's Puck, not Noah, Puck. And it's none of your business."

He turned to move forward, halfway to reaching his truck but he faced her again.

"You know I don't even know why you care anyway. It's not like we're friends. I bullied you all through freshmen year, remember? You should be thanking me that my "behavior lately" has changed. Not coming up to me with a picture you found yesterday and asking questions. I mean come on Berry."

"Well what do you expect? Having someone else find your picture and spreading the news around that you have a daughter and have everyone in school to know your secret. You should be lucky I had the audacity to give it back to you."

"And why did you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you give me back my picture? Like I said before, we aren't friends. I bullied you and yet you gave me back my picture without telling someone or the school."

"Because…because I don't know why."

"Come on Berry this would have been your chance to get even with me and you didn't, why?"

"I said I don't know."

He tsked and turned away from her to get inside his truck. The engine roared to life and he prepared to pull out of the lot but turned towards her to say one last thing.

"When you know why, you let me, alright."

With that said he pulled off and left. Rachel was left dumbfounded at the turn of event. She was supposed to get some answers not have more questions. His words replayed in her head only to be interrupted by a whistle and the shouting of Coach Tanaka yelling for someone to take a lap. She walked back inside the school to put away her day planner and happen to look down at her watch at the time. Almost four o'clock. Glee club was almost over. For the first time in her life she wasn't going to go. Questions would be asked why she was late and she didn't feel like answering them. Not until she had worked out a possible good answer for them at least. She'll think of something, but in the meantime, she was going home.

Noah had left a big impression on her. Now that she thought about it, he didn't answer a single question of hers except to ask questions himself. Questions that had her questioning her motive for this meet besides wanting to know what the picture installs and why he stopped his slushing. She never once thought why she didn't use this situation to her advantage and exploit his picture for her own personal game. She may not have the picture anymore but she still had the knowledge, she could still blackmail him for answers if she wanted.

But why stoop that low?

She could find other means in getting what she wanted; she was a resourceful young woman after all. If all fails, than stooping would be her last resort. With that in mind, she got inside her car and drove away.

* * *

AN: You know I have to ask. What did you think? Do I still have your attention?


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